Game of Sabotage and Rescue

ABSTRACT

A game including sabotage and rescue mechanics. Sabotage occurs when a second player&#39;s primary piece lands on the same space as a first player&#39;s primary piece. In this situation, the first player&#39;s primary piece is the piece being sabotaged. Sabotage can happen on any space on the board except for the secure spaces. The first player may be sabotaged in the following ways; (A) the first player&#39;s primary piece is stalled by giving the first player a sabotage card, resulting in an unknown number of lost turns, (B) a first player&#39;s collectible card is stolen, or (C) a first player&#39;s assignment is stolen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a non-provisional of U.S. Application No.61/516,891, filed Apr. 11, 2011, the entire disclosure of which isexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a game that includes an element ofsabotage and rescue.

BACKGROUND

Turn-based games involving skill or chance are a well known form ofamusement. There are also games that involve a sabotage mechanic whereina player is sabotaged, for example, by drawing a chance card. Typicalsabotage is usually brief, such as the loss of a turn or an inventoryitem. The prior art lacks a significant sabotage element that requires aplayer's main piece to be rescued by said player's rescue piece, whereinthe rescues piece moves according to a predetermined movement mechanic.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an improved multi-player game thatincorporates a rescue dynamic into a game involving chance and skill.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a game board illustrating the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a board around the startingspace.

FIG. 3 is another enlarged top plan view of a board, this time near thelower left corner of the game board.

FIGS. 4-7 show examples of instructions on the different types of cards.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings, like reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several figures.

For illustrative purposes, the game will be described as a board game.FIG. 1 illustrates such a board game, which includes a game board 100,four primary pieces (180), four rescue pieces (185), four destinationmarkers (170), twenty tokens, a mechanism for randomly generating anumber (e.g. a die or wheel), money in various denominations, and atleast one category of chance cards and one category of assignment cards.

Unmarked spaces on the board in FIG. 1 represent destination locationsthat will be referred to on the assignment cards. These unmarked spacesmay be State-themed, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, but may also includelandmarks, cross-streets, or other indicator of spatial location.

Some spaces on the board are “action spaces” associated with specialplaying instructions that will affect the player's turn, rather thandestinations. At least two spaces will be secured spaces 195 upon whicha player's piece can land but cannot be sabotaged. Additionally, thereare six spaces upon which a player may not land, including spaces 150,155, 160 and 165 upon which action cards are placed, one space where therescue pieces are placed while not in use, and one space marked with aPolice car to indicate the speed trap.

The following is a complete listing of the special instructions thatapply to the numbered spaces of FIG. 1:

Ref No. Space Description 101 Primary Piece Start Position Player drawsan assignment card every time this space is passed 105 Rescue PieceStart Position 110 Rescue Piece Holding Area 115 Assignment CardLocation (Draw an Assignment Card) 120 Chance Card (Draw a Card) 130Police Car Illustration 135 Speed Trap Space (Pass this space with aroll of 6 and pay $100 speeding fine) 140 Pulled Over by DOT (Pay $250fine) 145 Road Construction (Lose-a-Turn) 150 Deck of Chance Cards Type2 160 Deck of Assignment Cards 195 Secured Lot

The chance and assignment cards may be placed in the center of the boardfor convenience. Otherwise, if path to traverse passes through thecenter of the board multiple times, the cards may be set aside so as notto interfere with game play.

A player draws an appropriate card when they land on a correspondingspace or area of the board. Assignment cards will be drawn upon landingon an assignment card drawing space and every time a player's primarypiece passes the start position. Chance Cards will be discussed laterwith reference to FIGS. 4-7.

To Play

One person is selected to handle the money and the tokens. Each playerreceives a primary piece 180 equipped with a removable security system190, a rescue piece 185, a destination marker 170, $2000.00 of money andan Assignment Card. All cards are shuffled and placed on theirrespective spaces on the game board. Each player places their primarypiece 180 on the Primary Piece Start Position 101 and places theirrescue pieces 185 on the Rescue Piece Holding space 110. Each player'srescue piece 185 remains on the Rescue Piece Holding space 110 until itis required to rescue a player's primary piece 180 that has beensabotaged by another player.

As mentioned previously, drawing an Assignment Card gives each player anassignment to complete to earn money. Each player who decides to use theAssignment Card will place their destination markers 170 on the spacewhere the assignment begins as a visual goal indicator. Once the playerreaches the assignment start space by roll of the die or spin of thewheel, the player would move the marker to the assignment destinationspace indicated on the assignment card to mark the assignment'sdestination.

Each player will then roll the die or spin the wheel to determine whoplays first (usually the person rolling/spinning the highest number).

To move the pieces, the player will roll a die or spin a wheel todetermine the number of spaces to move, and move their primary piece 180the number of spaces determined by the die or wheel.

If a player lands on a location space and is not beginning or completingan assignment, nothing happens. If a player is trying to land on aparticular space to begin or complete an assignment, the player needonly roll a number greater than or equal to the number of spaces neededto reach the destination. For example, if a player needs to advancethree spaces and he/she rolls a six, he/she moves three spaces andforfeits the other three space advancements.

The game is won when a player collects five tokens and returns to theTruck Depot space 105. A player must buy the tokens. Tokens may bepurchased at the end of a player's turn, before he/she passes the die tothe next player. Only one token may be purchased per turn. If a playerpurchases a token and does not have enough money to pay the finesincurred during play, he/she may sell a token back to the personassigned to handle money and tokens for half the purchase price. Aplayer automatically loses the game if he/she cannot pay a fee incurredduring play, so caution should be exercised by the players whenpurchasing tokens.

Action Spaces

If a player lands on a space with special instructions (e.g. Chance Cardspace 120, or Pulled Over by DOT space 140, the player will follow thedirections given by the space (e.g. draw a Chance card and followinstructions, pay a fine, etc.). Since the Rescue Piece Start Positionspace 105 is used as the starting space for the rescue pieces when aplayer's primary piece has been sabotaged, nothing happens when theprimary piece lands on this space.

When a player passes “Speed Trap” 135 with a roll/spin of six, theplayer must pay a speeding fine of $100. However, if a player passesspace 135 with a roll of less than six, or if the player lands on space135, even with a roll of six, the space does not affect the player.

When a player lands on space 140 of FIG. 1, he/she is “Pulled Over byDOT” and must pay a $250.00 fine. When a player lands on space 145,he/she has encountered “Road Construction” and loses a turn.

When a player lands on a secure lot space 195, they cannot be sabotagedby another player.

Cards

Examples of the cards are given in FIGS. 4-7. FIGS. 4-5 illustratevarious examples of Chance Cards. These cards may reward or penalize theplayer with money, moves, or the like, or may be neutral collectablecards that include facts or information. Upon collection of apredetermined number of neutral cards, they may be traded for one ormore tokens. Various rules may apply to the collection of collectiblecards, such as collecting one collectible card of each theme orcollecting all collectible cards of one theme.

The cards may include an artistic graphic for aesthetics consistent withthe theme of the game.

FIG. 6 illustrates three examples of Assignment Cards, which are used toindicate various assignments for players to make money. Assignment Cardsare drawn from stack 160 whenever a player lands on an Assignment Cardspace 115 or passes the Primary Piece Start Position 101. A player cancollect multiple Assignment Cards and complete only one assignment at atime, but having multiple Assignment Cards has the advantage of allowinga player to create a strategy to complete assignments efficiently andearn more money faster. Assignment cards may additionally include imagesor other themed aesthetics consistent with the theme of the game.

Sabotage and Rescue Mechanic

Sabotage occurs when a second player's primary piece lands on the samespace as a first player's primary piece. In this situation, the firstplayer's primary piece is the piece being sabotaged. Sabotage can happenon any space on the board except for the secure spaces 195.

Every piece starts the game with a security system 190 (FIG. 1), and thefirst time a player may be sabotaged, the security system is removed andplay resumes (no further sabotage occurs). If a second player lands on aspace with a first player whose piece has lost its security system, thesecond player may sabotage the first.

To sabotage a first player, a second player may do one of the following:

-   (A) Sabotage the first player's primary piece by declaring sabotage,    giving the first player a sabotage card, or other indication that    the player's primary piece is to remain in its current location    until rescue arrives.-   (B) Take one of the first player's collectible cards (the card to    steal is selected by the second player) or other potential inventory    items.-   (C) Hijack the first player's assignment, if the second player is    not currently completing an assignment.

For the first type of sabotage, the second player will declare sabotageeither verbally, passing a sabotage instruction card to the firstplayer, or other indication that the first player's primary piece isinactive. This will require the first player to call their rescue piece185. Such a call is indicated by immediately moving the first player'srescue piece 185 from Rescue Piece Holding Area space 110 the RescuePiece Start Position 105.

Since the first player's primary piece is now stalled on the sabotagelocation, the first player's subsequent die rolls are used to move therescue piece until the rescue piece reaches the sabotaged primary piece.The rescue piece may or may not be affected by the spaces on the boardin that the rescue piece may or may not be required to pay fines, loseturns or draw cards.

While a first player's primary piece is sabotaged and awaiting thearrival of the rescue piece, it remains vulnerable to the other twotypes of sabotage; theft of a collectible card or inventory item, ortheft of an assignment. An assignment may only be stolen from asabotaged player if the second player is not currently completing anassignment. A second player who lands on the space of a first player tocomplete an assignment may immediately hijack the assignment of thefirst player. The first player remains vulnerable until either there isnothing left to steal or until the rescue vehicle arrives.

Once the rescue piece reaches the primary piece, the first player isreleased from the sabotaged state. The first player then moves theirrescue piece back to space 110 and on their next turn they can resumemoving their primary piece.

Themes and Aesthetics

One example game aesthetic is an over-the-road trucking theme. In such atheme, the primary playing pieces may have a silhouette as shown in FIG.1, item 180 to resemble “Big Rig Trucks.” The rescue playing pieces mayhave silhouettes as shown in item 185 to resemble “Wrecker Trucks,”similar to the types of trucks that are used for assisting real-worldbig rig trucks when they break down. FIG. 1 also shows a silhouette ofan example destination marker 170. The assignment cards will representlocations for picking up and dropping off freight.

Other theme aesthetics may be used with the game mechanic of the presentinvention. Alternative themes may include car-racing ormotorcycle-racing in which the primary pieces 180 may resemble race carsor motorcycles and the rescue pieces 185 may resemble ambulances, towtrucks, and other rescue-type vehicles. The destination marker 170 mayresemble a checkered flag, and the Assignment Cards may indicate wherestreet race begins and ends.

It is noted that the shapes of the pieces are merely exemplary as thepieces may take on any shape, so long as the primary playing piece 180is easily distinguished from the rescue piece (185). Other examples mayexist that would be considered within the spirit of the presentinvention.

As mentioned previously, the unnumbered spaces in FIG. 1 are destinationlocations. Such destinations can be cross streets within a city orvarious cities, states or countries consistent with the theme oraesthetic of the game. Each space may include some visual representationof the location or a factual description. For example, if thedestination spaces represent States, they may be illustrated with thename of the State, the State's corresponding flag and slogan.

It should be understood that the above rules and board descriptions canbe used together or by themselves to keep games fun and exciting, andcreate an enhanced atmosphere of competition among players. It should beunderstood that a myriad of variations on the above rules are readilyapparent to one of skill in the art and are within the scope of thepresent invention. For example, dollar values may be altered, boardlocations changed, or different cards used.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with the preferredembodiments shown and described in detail, various modifications andimprovements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled inthe art. For example, the above disclosure includes use of a die fordetermining a random number. A variety of other means for determining arandom number (such as an arrow on a spin wheel that has numbers on itsbase, drawing a number from a shuffled deck of cards and using acomputer to generate a random number) are possible and within the scopeof the present invention even if the specific structure of the means isnot explicitly disclosed herein. Accordingly, the spirit and scope ofthe present invention is to be limited only by the following claims.

1. A multi-player game, comprising: a second player obtaining a restingposition within a predetermined distance of a first player; said secondplayer invoking a sabotage state for said first player.
 2. Themulti-player game of claim 1, said multi-player game being a turn-basedgame.
 3. The multi-player game of claim 2, wherein said sabotagecondition causes said first player to remain stationary and in thesabotage state until a rescue means reaches said first player.
 4. Themulti-player game of claim 3, wherein said first player is released fromthe sabotage state upon arrival of said rescue means and resumes normalplay.
 5. The multi-player game of claim 2, wherein said sabotagecondition allows said second player to relieve said first player of aninventory item.
 6. The multi-player game of claim 2, wherein saidsabotage condition allows said second player to relieve said firstplayer of an assignment.
 7. The multi-player game of claim 3, whereinsaid first player, while in said sabotage state, is vulnerable toadditional sabotage from said additional player.
 8. The multi-playergame of claim 7, wherein said additional sabotage allows said firstplayer to be relieved of an inventory item.
 9. The multi-player game ofclaim 7, wherein said additional sabotage allows said first player to berelieved of an assignment.